1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recording medium having an ink receiving layer on a substrate is known as a recording medium. Such an ink receiving layer is known to contain alumina or alumina hydrate as a pigment (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-009734).
When alumina or alumina hydrate is used as the pigment in the ink receiving layer like the recording medium described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-009734, the ink receiving layer can be formed with a binder in an amount smaller than that in the case where silica is used, so that it is easy to form an ink receiving layer having excellent ink absorbency.
Alumina or alumina hydrate is high in refractive index compared with silica. Therefore, surface reflection on the surface of the ink receiving layer becomes great, and so it is easy to achieve high glossiness.
However, the investigation by the present inventors has revealed that an image of a dark color tone such as a black image looks whitish on the outside or in a bright room in particular and is liable to become an image without sharpness.